Folks I am a newbie to this hobby this year. I have been watching for a couple of years and finally ready to start my own Christmas display endeavor. I am planning on going with just a single Mega Tree this year to start. I am planning on using a dig-quad controller with a Meanwell 350w power supply. My tree will be 180degree variety with 600 nodes over 12 strips. Basically a 8-9ft megatree. Question is if I power inject after each 100 nodes do I use the power outs from the dig-quad to do so or run power injection leads directly off of my power supply?
Power Injection Question
- Thread starter rfreeland
- Start date
RichieNorthcott
Member
I think this comes down to fusing. I don't know much about the digi-quad but a quick glance suggests the outputs are fused at 5A each. All this is likely doing is taking the main 5V in, and providing onboard fuses for other connections (for convenience)
If you're pulling more power on an output then you will need to add a direct connection to the PSU with its own fuse. The board is probably not designed for more than 5A per connection. In theory you could run all power from the PSU (fused appropriately), and just data from the controller. What's important is the 0V is common to both.
If you have 5V strip I would recommend power injection every 50, not 100. Power injection simply means connecting the power at more than one location across the length of the string. For 12 strips of 50 I would connect power at both ends of the strip. For 12V less important. Would need more information about what you intend to connect.
If you're pulling more power on an output then you will need to add a direct connection to the PSU with its own fuse. The board is probably not designed for more than 5A per connection. In theory you could run all power from the PSU (fused appropriately), and just data from the controller. What's important is the 0V is common to both.
If you have 5V strip I would recommend power injection every 50, not 100. Power injection simply means connecting the power at more than one location across the length of the string. For 12 strips of 50 I would connect power at both ends of the strip. For 12V less important. Would need more information about what you intend to connect.
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TomL8345
New member
You haven't told us if you are using 12V or 5V pixels but some important points are:
- Make sure you are fusing each Power Injection Line - most of us use some type of power distribution board when powering direct from the power supply
- Power runs both directions from a PI point - so with 12V if you apply power at pixel 1, then you do not have to PI again until pixel 200, and then every 200. If 5V, PI at pixel 100, and then every 100
Its 12V Guys, sorry for missing that.
RichieNorthcott
Member
Having had a quick look at the digit-quad - TBH it looks more like just a fancy distribution board with a space to dock the ESP32 and power it from a 5-24 input voltage. if you're comfortable with electronics you could probably build your own for a fraction of the cost, plus give yourself more expansion options too. There's lots of information on here about how to use the ESP32 as a wired/wireless controller. Personally I use an arduino nano with an ethernet shield which I can get up to 680 pixels out of so would be enough for your tree.
That board appears to have two beefy connections for the 0V and Input voltage. The 0V will go straight to the black screen terminals, and tine input voltage to the red, via the fuses. Then on the board there will be a voltage regulator to get to the input voltage down to the correct level for the microcontroller. The blue terminals I imagine connect directly to the microcontroller output pins for the data signal. Plus it has an onboard smoothing capacitor. That's more or less it.
That board appears to have two beefy connections for the 0V and Input voltage. The 0V will go straight to the black screen terminals, and tine input voltage to the red, via the fuses. Then on the board there will be a voltage regulator to get to the input voltage down to the correct level for the microcontroller. The blue terminals I imagine connect directly to the microcontroller output pins for the data signal. Plus it has an onboard smoothing capacitor. That's more or less it.
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I connect these up to my PSU and then distribute the power to controller/lights using automotive Fuses I fuse my Power Injection (PI) lines to 5A from there. I also run my display at 20% brightness so I can drive way more pixels (200 before PI) , this gives you the flexibity to add PI Using the T's from your pixel light retail of choice. https://www.amazon.com/Marine-Waterproof-Automotive-Negative-Indicator/dp/B09NVJSD47/ref=sr_1_5?crid=245EPTQIQ1KWW&keywords=Fuse+Block&qid=1666626877&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI2LjE2IiwicXNhIjoiNS40NyIsInFzcCI6IjUuMjAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=fuse+bloc%2Caps%2C350&sr=8-5
RichieNorthcott
Member
Also, if you're using 12V strip check the specification carefully, you'll often find that the LEDs are in groups of 3, so you can only control every block of three pixels. For 100 controllable 'pixels' you would need 300 LEDs.